Fireside Bowl

Painting practice

I just watched the interview of Tom Fluharty by Bobby Chiu which inspired me to do some oil painting – something I rarely do and something I need to do more of. I only had a limited number of colors on hand and didn’t want to go to the store because I know what would happen. By the time I get back from the store I wouldn’t feel like painting anymore. So I just used what I had available. I had fun and while it’s no masterpiece it was a great exercise.

Illustration Friday: Subterranean

It’s been a while since I’ve worked in Illustrator. The brush tool in CS4 can really make digital “inking” fun. Just adjust the pressure sensitivity to your liking and you get some really smooth lines with nice variation.

Illustration Friday: “Brave”

Everyone’s favorite island scoundrel: Sawyer. I did a little collage of tropical plants and Sawyer’s letter for the background and painted the portrait with guache. The likeness isn’t perfect but it was a fun experiment.

Push the Button

…Ok. So, I may or may not be a bit obsessed with Lost at the moment. But, there’s so much good material to be inspired by! Anyway, here is take on the old Uncle Sam propaganda poster with our favorite Dharma Initiative spokesperson…

UPDATE 4/22/2010

A fellow Lostie requested a print of this piece so I made it available on Cafe Press!  Only $7.99 for an 11×17 poster.

New Wave Coffee Sketches

I live spitting distance from a pretty sweet coffee joint – New Wave coffee. So, when I start to feel cramped working in my little (almost) no-window office I take a little break and sketch some hipsters at New Wave. Here are a few sketches from today. The two in the upper right are pasted from another page that had some sketches of Lost characters. I was really surprised how cool the Sawyer sketch looked. I think its one of those situations where I do a quick sketch of something that turns out to have a lot of life to it…and then drives me crazy trying to recreate in a larger version. Something I need to work on.

John Locke vs. the Wild Boar.

I LOVE Lost. The mysteries, the characters, the fandom, the mythology they’ve built up… everything. And, with the final season currently being aired I am fully engrossed in the world that Damon and Carlton have created. I read blogs, listen to podcasts, and I am currently re-watching the entire series with my fiance. While watching the first season, and having seen how far the characters have come since, I really appreciate John Locke and his conflict and was inspired to do this illustration.

As you can see from the sketches, it took me a while to come to the final concept. The original concept would have been much more violent and scary. I wanted to show a John Locke that you never got to see – the moment he kills the boar. Which, I think, would have been a defining moment for first the character of first-season-Locke. But, I struggled with the concept and realized that it was being contrived. I naturally try to infuse a sense of humor into my work and was avoiding that at the start of this project. Once I let my personality out, the drawing flowed much easier. Locke is ultimately a pathetic character and is often scared and frustrated when no one’s looking. I pictured him stalking the boar as a deadly hunter…that is until the boar sees him and then it turns into a Road Runner-esque chase sequence through the jungle… that is the moment I tried to capture.